This blog has nothing to do with gorillas (though I love 'em)...fellow bloggers have inspired me to share vintage images of Disneyland from my personal collection. But don't be surprised if you see something from a World's Fair, Knott's Berry Farm, or someplace else that is cool!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Today I am sharing some scans sent to me by GDB pal Steve Stuart (aka Nanook)! Steve has a copy of Mira Costa High School's 1964 "Hoofprints" yearbook, in which several color photos were taken at The Happiest Place on Earth. That's right, math class! I mean, Disneyland! I wonder if these pictures were taken on a day the park would have been closed (years ago it would be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays during the off season). Or, as Steve suggested, maybe they were there for homecoming. Also, why did Mira Costa High get to feature kids at the park when there are many schools closer to Anaheim?

Check out this awesome image of a quintet of gals from the Color Guard as they stand atop the Nautilus over at the Submarine Lagoon. Oodles of Disney cast members get climb on the subs all the time, but mere mortals practically never get the chance.

Ready? O.K! Five cheerleaders bask in the glow of the footlights at the Golden Horseshoe Revue. There are some audience members, which might mean this photo was taken on a regular operating day. "Ventures into of Imagination"?? Looks like something I would write. But in fact the complete sentence was "Pep Club Ventures Into a World of Imagination".

MiCoHi "yell leaders" (I prefer the term "shout technicians") strike an awkward (but adorable) pose in Frontierland. Those kids sure are clean-cut (and blonde!); how many would turn into hippies in just a few years? TOO MANY, that's how many!

I'll vote for the clean (hippie BO is toxic)kids. At least they didn't preach communism and damn the man (big business) and then 40 years later jack the prices up 20% in one day. Our Disney execs (probably former Woodstock era hippies)did. Besides who doesn't love a girl cheerleader named Jiffy?

A color guard, a pep club, AND a cheer squad? I thought teenagers were supposed to be sullen and morose. Well, I guess I would have joined the Institutional Happiness Brigade, too, if it meant a trip to Disneyland.

At first I thought Crave and Dave, er, Craig and Daig were twins, but I guess they just used the same brand of hair fixative.

I wonder if the table of oldsters in the Golden Horseshoe picture are park guests or just chaperones.

TokyoMagic!, I doubt it was very dangerous to climb out onto the top of a sub, but you're right, Disney would never allow a picture like that today.

Anon, it is kind of amazing how non-diverse the school must have been.

Alonzo, you know how much I love hippies! And how about that name, "Jiffy Jones"? Too good to be true.

Melissa, I am grateful that these hardened criminals were kept busy after school; think of the trouble they would have gotten into otherwise. I get the feeling that the old folks were actual Disneyland guests, but we'll never know for sure….

Prior to sharing these images, I almost forgot that girls of a certain age would allow themselves to be called 'Jiffy' or 'Bunny' and not expect to be greeted with gales if laughter from the "cool kids". Heck, she WAS one of the cool kids-! (cigarette, anyone-?)

That first pic is, well, green. So cute.What a privilege to even stand on the same stage that Wally Boag appeared on. Now that Jiffy Johhnston’s name is in HTML, she may someday Google this post and tell us the story of her day at Disneyland. Jiffy, we are listening!

e-yearbook.com mentions a freshman named Jiffy Johnston at USC - El Rodeo in 1965. It's a pay site, so you can only see thumbnails, but she was apparently involved in a Delta Gamma charity event for blind children. One of her classmates had the equally adorable name of "Pepper Webb."